Fitness and Martial Arts

February, 26 2018

Martial arts incorporates a number of traditional combat practices that aid in physical, spiritual, and mental growth. People also learn these techniques for self-defense and entertainment. Many parents view the sport as violent, and as such, discourage their children from taking part in it. Ironically, these fighting arts are a lot safer than many other common sports. They are always practiced in controlled environments, meaning the chances of anyone getting injured are very low.

These fighting techniques are especially important for fitness. Here are some ways the sport can make your child grow fit:

• Flexibility

These sports involve a lot of complicated kicking movements. As such, most students have to start off with stretching exercises. These are meant to loosen the muscles that have grown sedentary over time. As a student, your child will be instructed on how to practice without hurting their muscle fibers.

One of these flexibility stretches is the seated and standing hamstring stretch. In this workout, you have to raise one leg up and rest it on a bar in order to stretch the rear leg muscles. The training also involves the hurdler’s stretch, which loosens the muscles in the groin and hamstrings. This specific workout has to be performed under supervision as it can cause stress in the knee ligament.

For the inner thigh muscles, participants are given instructions on how to perform the seated groin stretch. The standing hip stretch is much simpler and helps to ease the hip and buttock muscles. To improve the flexibility of the front thigh, hips, and buttocks, students will perform the lunging exercise and the thigh stretch.

There are many variations of these workouts, some of which are too complicated for beginners. As your child becomes more flexible, he or she will learn tougher stretching exercises.

• Strength

Sports such as jiu-jitsu require participants to workout heavily in order to handle their opponents well in self-defense. Participants need to be able to pack enough power behind their punches. Students will be enrolled in sessions that involve pull up exercises, push-ups, and burpees. These workouts also help to condition the students.

The fighting sports mainly focus on building the art of fighting. These include quick responses to attacks, coordination, fighting techniques, and motor control. However, these are incomplete if the child lacks the strength to resist and initiate attacks.

• Stamina

Physical endurance is important in these sports. Without enough stamina, a fighter easily loses technique, and their movements become sloppy. If any part of a fighter’s body gets too tired to move with mobility, they will be unable to fight as well. Even a fighter with the best techniques will lose any fight as long as they don’t have the stamina to endure the duration of the match. This is why stamina is always listed as an important aspect of these fighting sports.

Stamina is achieved through the vigorous training offered to students. These workouts raise the heart rate steadily and require the participants to keep going without giving up. As a result, the children will be able to develop physical and mental endurance, both of which are important in living a healthy and fulfilling life. Stamina is measured by the length and intensity of an activity, and the muscles involved in the workouts.

Some schools improve the stamina of their students through simple cardio activities such as rope skipping and running. Strength training can also be included in the workouts as a way of conditioning the students for more aggressive fights. Since these workouts are only meant for training, the instructor will be careful enough not to let the children injure their muscle fibers or even do cardio beyond what their bodies can handle physically.

• Posture

Good posture and balance are often neglected in young people. Children need to care of their backs just as much as older people. If they learn proper postures at young ages, they are likely to maintain it as they grow up. In these fighting sports, people build healthy body postures and balance through specific workouts.

Posture, in these arts, is directly linked to coordination and structure, both of which are of critical importance. A good fighter needs to coordinate all the parts of their body so that he or she can work in harmony.

To coordinate their movements against opponents, their bodies need to be well-balanced, and this means their bodies have to be aligned with gravity. That way, their movements will not be affected by excessive tension.

Building good posture will go a long way in maintaining proper breathing and improving the health of your child’s spine.

• Healthy Body Weight

These sports also incorporate cardio exercises. However, participants don’t necessarily have to engage in separate workouts in order to burn calories. Workouts such as karate, judo, and other kicking exercises are enough to keep them fit. In fact, a person can burn more calories with these exercises compared to workouts such as the stationary bike. Young children are unlikely to engage in workouts that they consider boring. These sports help them find an enjoyable activity, which is also highly effective at burning fat.

It is important to note that many movements can be dangerous if done improperly. So, ensure that a professional trains your child at all times.

• Self Confidence and Discipline

The fighting arts also make children become mentally fit. This is because they get to learn new techniques and skills, and at the end of every stage, they receive a belt as a reward. That way, they are able to grow into disciplined people who can see a task to its end. Also, these techniques are not easy; the children will have to make sacrifices to learn the skills successfully. This further teaches them self-discipline. At the end of the day, they will have a sense of capability since they completed a task successfully.

Conclusion

Traditional fighting arts are important in the development of children. The sports will help them gain fitness, physically and mentally since this is important to their development. You should consider signing up your child in martial arts school for them to enjoy the highlighted benefits.